O r i g i n a l

E-Zine

W i s d o m

Sometimes it happens...

In the midst of the most tumultuous life circumstance, you have a moment where you experience an unexpected feeling of goodness. A little event can trigger it, or a memory, or a thought. This innate sense of our own well-being, in spite of whatever is going on around us, is our Original Wellness. It is our birthright, the surprise toy in the crackerjack box of our psyches. Our brains can be rewired to experience more of it. The molecular fingerprint of this experience is showing up in laboratories all over the globe. Emotions create chemicals in our bodies and chemicals in our bodies create emotions. We are in the grip of this cycle all day, every day, mostly unconsciously. Our thoughts are affecting the cycle all the time. But then, there are moments of grace. We transcend the usual. Instead of feeling helpless, we feel free, or instead of feeling hopeless, we feel peace. It's almost comical, this sudden shift from a familiar perception to a fresh one. We may give a litttle laugh. And then, we often slip back into our usual realm of being, our tried and true set point for relative happiness or misery.

An example of these kind of moments can be hard to pin down. One snippet of news reminded me of it. There was a story I read about some Marine snipers in Iraq. They were outside of a building, guns poised, in a situation of agonizing tension, waiting. Instead of an enemy appearing, an insouciant tomcat sauntered out of the building and sat placidly in the line of fire. I like to imagine the soldiers laughing, forgetting their troubles for a moment. Our Original Wellness is like that. It took getting seriously ill for me to really understand Original Wellness. Inspite of my natural fear and anxiety, I had many of these little moments, woven in and out of my experience. They would come and go. My favorite was when I had managed to go outside and sit by my house in a little puddle of sunshine. I still felt lousy, but suddenly with a green flash, a dragonfly landed on my knee and I forgot all about it. Just for a moment. A very good moment.

Trish Malone

Trish Malone, MA LMSW

O r i g i n a l

W i s d o m

You are viewing the text version of this site.

To view the full version please install the Adobe Flash Player and ensure your web browser has JavaScript enabled.

Need help? check the requirements page.

Get Flash Player